I'm graduating from college in the morning; how should I feel?

[AlienGirl]

Aside from being nervous about the crowd thing and the lines thing (my limbic system crapped all over me at the rehearsal) I'm not sure what I'm feeling.

I mean, it's supposed to be this huge rite of passage, a major accomplishment, right? But since it's so delayed, it kinda feels half-assed. I'm not sure if it's appropriate to have much fanfare around finally graduating at 32--a decade late.

And I'm not sure if I really feel like I accomplished much. Rather, this just feels like the beginning of the process of putting together a life from what the disease and divorce left me with.

So...how should I feel?

Tucker

[enigmatic]

1. Proud and excited

Seriously, congrats; I think you've done a great thing:)

[Behind the Aegis]

2. Any way you want!

Personally, I think you should feel great!!! You accomplished a goal. Who gives a shit how long it took you or what roads you took to get there...you got there!!!! CONGRATS TO YOU!!!!!!

[Orsino]

15. Yep. It's a rite....

...but whether or not it's a rite of passage is up to you. Every one of the hundreds of people there will remember it differently, and there's nothing that says you have to enjoy it for the same reasons anyone else does. Or enjoy it at all.

Hope you can have fun seeing your fellow grads all together for one last time.

Congratulations on completing your degree! Good luck.

[NomoBreaks]

3. DRUNK

[chicagojoe]

4. You should feel PROUD OF YOURSELF. YOU did it !!!

Congratulations. Don't feel bad about the age thing. When I graduate next year, I will have just turned 47. Go on with your bad self !!!

[leftofthedial]

5. getting your college degree is never "half-assed"

congratulations! you should feel proud.

It is also a beginning, as is any rite of passage. The degree will open many doors for you, but just knowing that you have accomplished something of that magnitude will give you confidence to tackle the challenges ahead.

Way to go!

[6000eliot]

6. I was 30 and glad I did it

My family all attended, including my infant nephew who is now 16! They were all very proud of me, at least the ones who were aware of what was going on. You should feel proud too! It doesn't matter when you accomplish a thing if it's worth accomplishing.

[jobycom]

7. I felt like that when I graduated

I skipped my BA and my MA ceremonies, and just picked up my diploma. I felt like you--I'd worked my way through college, so it just didn't seem like that big a deal, and it was always just the start of something else--more school, mostly. I never felt like I had achieved anything difficult.

I kind of wish I'd appreciated it more. Not gone to the ceremonies, but at least felt proud, and maybe marked it with something special. At both times I was in very difficult situations in my life, and I let them bury what I should have felt.

It's a great thing, Tucker, no matter how long it took you or what else you've got that feels more important now. Enjoy it. It will be one of the few untarnished memories of your life. It's worth a bit of self-indulgent pride. You don't get that chance often enough.

[RobinA]

16. Graduation Skipper Here

I skipped undergrad graduation. I'm now debating MS graduation atendance, but it's not looking good. I just can't work up any major emotions about the event. I wish I could.

The problem I'm going to have with MS is that I will finish at next July and won't be able to attend a graduation until the next spring. Big deal. It always seems to me, and I know this is not a good way of looking at things, but it's me, that no matter what you attain, it's never enough. I never in a million years expected to think that a Master's was crap, but I'm rapidly reaching that point. I've got doctoral students looking down on my degree already. There's professional organizations in my field that don't even acknowledge people with my degrees existence....

[jobycom]

17. Not much different

Than an MA in history. They are nice to fill a blank spot on a wall, but without a PhD, they don't do much.

I'm not into the ceremonies, either. But I wish I'd taken a vacation, maybe gone to the beach by myself, or just treated myself to a nice evening out. Something to mark and enjoy the occasion. I went straight on to the PhD program (never got it), so at the time the MA seemed like a beauracratic event.

[Kenneth ken]

8. you should feel proud of yourself

a lot of people never graduate from college, and in your case, doing so while overcoming the disease, and all the fallout and upheaval of a divorce along the way, makes it even more of an accomplishment.

You got past some large roadblocks that might have prevented you from earning your degree, be proud of that.

The reason it is considered a milestone is that to get there a person has to strive and overcome obstacles in their path. pretty much all of life is overcoming obstacles - and you know that more than many people, so that may be why it doesn't seem as big as other obstacles you've overcome. It wasn't as scary and deadly as cancer; it wasn't as heartbreaking as divorce, but it did have its own trials.

I'm proud of you, so you can have some of that to buoy your enthusiam if you want :)

:hug:

Tucker
:yourock:

:loveya:

oh, yeah

C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S ! ! !
:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

edit - needed another bouncy

[unsavedtrash]

9. I realized at graduation I finished the way I started. A single file line

That was last month right before I turned 36. My ceremony was at 8:30am outside in Alabama. I was so sleepy, I can't remember too much of it.

[NawlinsNed]

10. I hope your graduation treats you better than mine treated me...

2 1/2 years, no job in my chosen field. That's after taking a circuitous route and finishing school in 7 years because I was taking classes part time and working full time.

Screw that. If I had to do it again, I'd have just gone to work at a plant, worked for 10 years, and I'd be sitting pretty with a paid off house and the capital to start a business. Told my university alumni people to take my name off the list and they better never fucking so much as mail me a sticker ever again.

But maybe you took the right route already. Don't mind me. Congratulations!

[AlienGirl]

11. What's your field?

That's part of what I'm scared of--there may just be no jobs...

Tucker

[Mizmoon]

12. Do NOT let other people's opinions define you

I have an undergrad degree in history and I have done very well for myself. People who say that shit about "bad majors" are usually people who never finished college and are jealous.

The people with degrees in English who never found a job weren't really trying.

When you're tempted to disregard your accomplishment, think about how you'd feel if you were 32 and still hadn't even gotten started with your degree. Be proud. A degree is a beautiful achievement.



:party: :bounce: :toast: :hippie: :dunce: :headbang:

[jobycom]

18. I got a degree in history

Couldn't find work related to the degree, and wound up in bookkeeping. It turns out bookkeeping and history use very similar skills, so my degree helped me advance.

There's no such thing as wasted knowledge. You become a better rounded person, and you become a better citizen. We worry too much about income defining us these days. We should be just as defined by how good a citizen we are, and education helps us to be better citizens, no matter what our career paths are. We are defined by many things: our loves, our families, our hobbies. Jobs and money are just two of those factors, and not nearly the most important ones.

Not unimportant, either. Just strike a balance. You'll find that in a few years, the degree will feel more important, whether your job is related to it or not.

[SKKY]

13. Be afraid! Be very afraid!

Just kiddin'. Congradulations! You've worked hard, studied hard, and hopefully partied hard. I wish you the very best.

[bridgit]

14. accomplished...

:thumbsup: :kick: :hi:

[DS1]

19. Don't go. I didn't. Well I did, as an observer, but the bagpipes

they were playing over the loudspeakers drove me away before the first speaker even said a word.